Amid the chaos caused by the great blackout that left a good part of Valencia without electricity, many shops were forced to close their doors. Others, such as bars and restaurants, struggled not to lose product in their refrigerators. But few would imagine that a jewelry store, with its sophisticated security system, could become a golden trap. That was exactly what Argimiro Aguilar, jeweler of Colón Street, lived, which passed the blackout within his own establishment, without the possibility of leaving … or closing completely.
Anyone … until it stopped being
Like every morning, Argimiro arrived at his jewelry at eight. “Sunday is Mother’s Day and the following, the Virgin of the Forsaken”explain. “It is a strong time for us: weddings, anniversaries, special giftsHe worked behind closed doors, advancing tasks, when at 12:33 the light went. Luckily, he had just prepared coffee. But then uncertainty began.
“I did not prove the differentials. I knew it was a blackout of the area because I saw all the skirts off. I ate the sandwich, and waited”, He said laughing. But the light did not return.
A jeweler trapped between armored doors
Las Security measures of a jewelry such as Argimiro’s are extreme. Armored doors, battleships, electrical systems. “From within I could open the first door manually, but the second, the one that gives to the street, only opens with electricity ”, He recounts. So there he stayed. He, a silver tray, two design coasters and a Zero Coca-Cola. “People passed and said: ‘Are you locked up?’ And I: ‘Yes, I can’t go out’. But quiet, I had everything necessary “.
Until a neighbor appeared without cash. “He told me that I didn’t have a euro. I said: ‘That’s always going with the mobile or clock. You always have to have some money at home’”.
A Commitment Ring in Express Version
In full confinement, He received a message from a Valencia player. Urgent: I wanted to collect a engagement ring. “I told him yes, that he was in the store, to come. But of course, I didn’t know that he couldn’t leave or charge him”When the client arrived, The only option was to pass the ring through a slit with just two fingers between both doors.
“There was no luxury case, so I prepared one more finite. I had a great time with the folding bag and said: ‘Montate it outside’. He insisted on paying me, but there was no way: without electricity, the datáphones were dead. ”
Prepared to spend the night
Argimiro was convinced that he would spend the night there. “He could not close or open the armored chamber if the light did not return. I made sure to close it before for security. But if I hadn’t done it … it would have been a disaster. In jewelry, without light, we are sold”.
The blackout unleashed an alarm concert throughout Colón street. All except yours. “Because I was inside, working. Police passed, he saw me with my coca-cola and the tray, they made a gesture of ‘all good’ and they left”.
A reflection after darkness
The event has been a lesson for the jeweler. “Yesterday the radio was valued again. Pilas, lifelong. Today we have decided to buy one “. He has also started efforts to incorporate a generator set into his store. “You have to have plan A, B and C. Yesterday Mercadona could open because they already thought about this. We must also do it”.
He even lived another surreal situation: “On an apartment that we are reforming in Nazareth, a hooded man tried to enter taking advantage of the blackout. He did not know that the alarms have drums. He jumped the alarm, the police went and ran out. Cacos there are many, but some do not know how modern alarms work.”
The safer jewelry … and more human
Argimiro is clear: “Here we are armored, but the most important thing is to keep the head cold. I could have slept a week in the jewelry and nothing would have happened. I was prepared for that. “
Its history, a mixture of humor, professionalism and common sense, has become a very valuable anecdote in times when technology, although essential, can also fail. And when that happens, What remains is the usual: ingenuity, trade… and a good silver tray with Coca-Cola Zero.
